Built in 2005, the Class B office facility sits on 1.5 acres along the north side of Market Center Drive east of Schilling Boulevard East, in Collierville’s Schilling Farms planned development, Phase 39, Area 6.

The Shelby County Assessor of Property’s 2013 appraisal of the property is $1.6 million.

TD Properties bought the then-vacant land in a 2004 special warranty deed for $378,972 from Schilling Farms LLC.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Daily News staff

Jones Awarded Honor at Riverside Military Academy

John Paul “Jack” Jones, former publisher of The Daily News, is the recipient of the President’s Philanthropy Award from Riverside Military Academy.

Jones, a 1938 graduate of the Gainesville, Ga., institution, was honored this month for donations and contributions to numerous cultural, religious and educational organizations in Memphis and elsewhere in the country.

Jones attended the academy in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains for two years before attending and graduating from Vanderbilt University in Nashville followed by service in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

After his war service, Jones earned his law degree from the University of Virginia.

At Riverside he is best remembered for a senior year trip he and his classmates made to Cuba with a group of dignitaries from Georgia.

Lillard said support for higher education could further erode as a result. In 1990, state revenue funded more than half the cost of state universities. That percentage has already declined to about 38 percent and could be further reduced.

Lillard said with TennCare using up most of the money, programs such as higher education and K-12 schooling will have to compete for funding.

– The Associated Press

US Durable Goods Orders Rise 3.3 Percent in April

U.S. orders for long-lasting manufactured goods rebounded in April, buoyed by more demand for aircraft and stronger business investment. The gains suggest economic growth may be holding steady this spring.

Orders for durable goods, items expected to last at least three years, rose 3.3 percent last month from March, the Commerce Department said Friday. That followed a 5.9 decline in March.

A measure of business investment plans increased 1.2 percent. And the government revised the March figure to show a 0.9 percent gain, instead of a slight decrease.

Companies ordered more machinery and electronic products last month, typically signs of confidence. More spending by businesses could ease fears that manufacturing could drag on the economy later this year.

Factories had been seeing fewer orders at the start of the year, in part because slower global growth had reduced demand for U.S. exports. Economists had also worried that across-the-board federal spending cuts and higher taxes might prompt businesses to cut back on orders.

Paul Ashworth, an economist with Capital Economics, said the April report suggests economic growth is holding up. He predicts growth in the April-June quarter will be at a rate of 2 percent to 2.5 percent. That’s not much lower than the 2.5 percent rate reported for the January-March quarter.

Still, the payoff from the pickup in business investment may not come until the end of the quarter. That’s because the government looks at shipments when it measures the gross domestic product, not orders. And shipments of goods that signal investment plans fell in April, reflecting weaker demand at the start of the year.

“Business investment appears to have started the second quarter on a weak note but should rebound over the final two months of the quarter,” he said.

The April increase pushed total orders to $222.6 billion on a seasonally adjusted basis. That is 6.5 percent above the level of a year ago.

Orders for transportation goods gained 8.1 percent, reflecting a 16.1 percent jump in demand for commercial aircraft and a 53.3 percent increase in orders for military aircraft.

Orders for motor vehicles increased 1.9 percent.

Excluding the volatile transportation category, orders rose 1.3 percent in April. That followed a 1.7 percent decline in March.

Still, other reports showed that factories continued to struggle in April.

The Institute for Supply Management reported factory activity barely expanded in April, held back by weaker hiring and less company stockpiling.

Oil Falls Below $94 on Weak Outlook

The price of oil was knocked below $94 a barrel Friday by a combination of ample supplies and lukewarm demand.

Benchmark oil for July delivery was down 36 cents to $93.91 a barrel in midday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

On Thursday, oil fell as low as $92.91 after weak manufacturing data from China raised questions about the strength of oil demand in the world’s No. 2 economy. It closed at $94.25 a barrel in New York, down 3 cents. That followed a report from the U.S. Energy Department showing the country is well-supplied with oil, and gasoline demand remains below year-ago levels.

One question overhanging the market is what the Federal Reserve’s next moves will be with its monetary policy. Recent comments from Fed policy makers, including Chairman Ben Bernanke, raised concerns that the Fed will scale back its effort to support the economy sooner than traders had expected.

Brent crude, a benchmark for many international oil varieties, was down 27 cents to $102.17 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.